Brothers and Bandits
by Gemini14
Summary: Slayers/Fushigi Yugi AU Crossover. When Lina receives a letter from Luna to go and take care of some more evil, Lina is astonished to discover that she has a brother! What kinds of adventures await Lina and her group of adventurers?


Brothers and Bandits

Chapter One

"No! Not again!" Lina cried, as she stared at a piece of paper that had just arrived in her hands. 

"What is it, Lina?!" Gourry asked, as he, Zelgadis, and Amelia crowded around to see what had freaked the normally calm (in some situations) Lina Inverse. 

"It's……………..it's a letter…………..from Luna………………I'm doomed." Lina muttered, as she got a shovel from nowhere and started digging her own grave. Again.

"The last time you got a letter from her was before that battle with Valgaav and DarkStar. What could possibly be wrong now?" Zelgadis asked. 

"I don't know……………….I don't want to know." Lina said, from the bottom of a deep pit. 

"Mind if I read it then, Lina-san?" Amelia asked.

"No. Here." Lina replied, tossing the parchment up to the younger girl. With ease, Amelia opened the letter and started reading it aloud.

__

Lina, 

I know that this is getting a little old, but I must have you do something else. Gather all of your friends together again, then head west of Seiruun. There, you will find a bandit group. Ask for Tasuki. He, and a few of his friends, will accompany you this time. Oh, and Lina, don't fireball him, he'll just throw the fire back at you. Keep safe, little sister.

Yours,

Luna Inverse

P.S. Did I mention you have a brother?

"WHAT?! A brother?!" Lina yelped, clamoring out of the hole and snatching the parchment away from Amelia. 

"You have a brother, Lina?" Zelgadis asked, with curiosity in his voice.

"Mother had said I had a twin brother somewhere, but he ran off when he was five, so I don't really remember him. Luna had probably scared him off too." Lina said, with a touch of irony in her expression. 

"So, do we head that way, then?" Amelia asked.

"Yeah. But first we go and get Filia and Sylphiel." Lina said, with a sigh.

"But what about Xellos?" Gourry asked, for once remembering about the Mazoku priest.

"Oh, if he's assigned to follow me, he'll turn up at some point. So we shouldn't worry about that." Lina said, as she started walking. It took them several days to get where they wanted to go, but they managed. They had already picked up the two in question, with minimal complaints. 

"Now, west of Seiruun…………….." Lina muttered. When they had finally gotten to where the needed to be, they encountered two men on the path they were taking.

"Hello, what brings you here?" one asked, his soft voice very unlike anything Lina had ever heard come from a bandit.

"We're looking for someone named Tasuki. Is he around here?" Lina asked. The man who had spoken nodded.

"He's here. Is there a reason why you are all here?" the second man asked, sounding a little defensive. 

"Ever hear of Luna Inverse?" Lina asked. Both sentries froze and exchanged an uneasy glance. 

"Must have." Zelgadis muttered, when he saw the looks on the men's faces. 

"We have indeed. In fact, Tasuki received a letter from her not long ago." The second man said.

"What did he do when he saw it?" Amelia asked.

"Started digging his own grave." The first said.

"Yep………..sounds like they're related, all right." Zelgadis said, dodging when Lina aimed a punch at his face. 

"Putting that aside, we need to see him right away." Lina said, regaining her composure as quickly as she'd lost it. The two sentries nodded.

"Come this way. By the way, my name is Nuriko." The first man said, with an easygoing smile.

"And I'm Amiboshi. We've heard a lot about you, Miss Inverse." The second man said, as he and Nuriko started leading the group into the bandits' lair. 

"What have you heard?" Lina asked.

"That you've destroyed several of our rivals, defeated Shabranigdo, Koppi Rezo, HellMaster Phibrizzo and DarkStar. Tasuki made it a point to keep tabs on what you were doing. Unfortunately for him, though, Luna Inverse noticed what he was doing. Now he's being dragged into an adventure he doesn't want to take." Amiboshi said, as they arrived in the central meeting place. All of Lina's crew, including Lina herself, froze and gaped in horror at what they saw. Instead of seeing a bunch of bandits doing what they normally did in camp, there were men lying everywhere on makeshift stretchers, waiting for healers to tend to them. 

"How horrible! What happened?!" Amelia asked.

"This happened four days ago. We were attacked by a group of what appeared to be Dark Elves, but they were anything but. They had the shapes and forms of elves, but they were nothing more that living pieces of darkness. In the midst of the fight, some priest appeared to help, but he got his stomach slashed by some kind of dagger. He's still alive, but I doubt he'll last much longer." Nuriko murmured, grimly.

"This priest……….did you catch his name?" Lina asked. Nuriko shook his head. 

"He's been unconscious since the attack, so we don't know anything more about him other than the fact that he's dying." Nuriko said, as he led them to where some men gathered. 

"Nuriko-san, if you don't mind, maybe Sylphiel-san and I can help with the wounded." Amelia said, volunteering her abilities.

"That would be fine. Your help will be appreciated by Mitsukake." Nuriko said, then turned to Lina.

"So where is Tasuki?" Lina asked. Nuriko pointed out a tall, wiry man that had fiery red orange hair. 

"That is Tasuki. Beside him are Tamahome and Hotohori. Tamahome came from Tasuki's hometown. Hotohori, on the other hand, is a bit of a mystery. No one seems to know where he came from or how old he is." Nuriko said, doing most of the talking now that Amiboshi had dismissed himself to go back to his post. 

"So this 'Hotohori' is a mystery, eh?" Lina asked.

"Hai." Nuriko said, as he led the group over to where Tasuki stood. 

"Shit! Nuriko! How long have you been standing there?! Get over here!" Tasuki shouted. Lina shot Zelgadis a scathing glare when the said chimera snickered about the family resemblance between Tasuki and Lina. 

"C'mon." Nuriko said, as he ushered them over. Minutes later, Lina was face to face with Tasuki. 

"So you're my twin sister, eh? I'm surprised you put up with Luna's shit as long as you did! You're braver than I took you for!" Tasuki said, with a fanged grin. Lina grinned back, she could learn to get along with this sibling!

"Nah, my parents just kept a better eye on me. So you got pulled into this too?" Lina asked.

"Yeah. Seems that Luna's out to ruin everybody's lives nowadays. So these are you traveling companions? The heartless mystical swordsman, dumbass swordsman, hyperactive princess, slap-happy dragon priestess, and the quiet sorceress?" Tasuki asked, looking at the four who stood there, then the two who were helping out with the injured.

"Yep, that's them. We're missing one though." Lina said, remembering what had been said about a wounded priest and wondering if that 'priest' was Xellos. 

"It does seem that you are one short." Hotohori said, his voice smooth and gentle. Filia took notice of this immediately. This man was definitely not a bandit! Then Filia looked closely at Hotohori's eyes; she found to her astonishment that they were a rich golden color, not unlike her son Val's eyes!

"_Yes, I am what you think I am, Filia Ul Copt._" Hotohori's voice said, in her mind.

"_But how?! I'd been led to believe that Val was the last of his kind!_" Filia replied. 

"_I was a coward who ran from his country when it was being attacked. I had a wife and son then, but both of them died later at the hands of some Golden Dragon priests. Anyway, there is at least one more dragon here. Chichiri is a Blue Dragon. I think he's coming along with us as well._" Hotohori 'said', turning his head when a blue-haired man joined the group.

"Well, how's that priest doin' Chich?" Tasuki asked.

"He's dying. Unless the magic that was in that dagger is removed, he won't last another day." Chichiri said, grimly. 

"Let us see him." Lina said. Tasuki nodded and led them to a quiet area away from the main camp. There, a man lay on a stretcher, his middle swathed in bloodstained bandages. At first it appeared that the priest had already died, but then Lina saw his chest rising and falling, ever so slightly. Then, as though he'd sensed them, the priest opened his eyes and looked at them.

"Xellos?!" Filia yelped, in disbelief. 

"Zel, go and get Sylphiel. If I'm right about this, then Xellos' been sliced open by a holy dagger." Lina said, as she got to the Mazoku's side and took a closer look at the wound. With a look of disgust on his face, Zelgadis did as he was told and went to find Sylphiel. 

"Lina Inverse……………….what a pleasant surprise……………….." Xellos gasped, in an attempt to be his usual self. 

"How did you get yourself into this, Xellos?" Lina asked. Xellos grimaced, breathing heavily as more pain tore at his stomach.

"I had to preserve the lives of the two dragons who would accompany you and those of Tasuki and Nuriko." Xellos replied, painfully.

"But why? You've destroyed dragons in the past, Namagomi! Why are you protecting them now?" Filia asked.

"Sore wa……………….sore wa himitsu desu." Xellos said, with a smile, before passing back out.

"Typical." Lina muttered, when Sylphiel finally joined them and started doing what she could for Xellos. 

"Things have just gotten a whole hell of a lot more difficult." Tasuki grumbled, as Chichiri nodded in agreement.


End file.
